Liam Lynch (1892-1923) was an officer in the I.R.A. (Irish Republican Army) during the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Irish Civil War. Born in Mitchelstown, County Cork, Lynch joined the Gaelic League and the Ancient Order of Hibernians in his youth. The aftermath of the Easter Rising convinced Lynch to take up physical force republicanism, and in 1917 he was First Lieutenant of the Irish Volunteers in Fermoy. When the Volunteers was reorganised into the I.R.A., Lynch became commandant of the No. 2. Cork Brigade, launching attacks on the British Army barracks in Mallow and helping to mastermind the capture of British officer General Cuthbert Lucas. Lynch opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and was appointed Chief of Staff of the Anti-Treaty I.R.A., leading a ruthless and bloody campaign against the Free State Government and the National Army. On 10 April 1923, Lynch was ambushed near his secret HQ in the Knockmealdown Mountains, dying of his injuries later that evening.
Writings
To All Ranks In The Army (1923)